Centaurus A Galaxy with Black Hole Shines | NASA Chandra & IXPE

Centaurus A Galaxy with Black Hole Shines | NASA Chandra & IXPE

The galaxy Centaurus A (Cen A) shines bright in this image combining data from multiple observatories. In the center of this galaxy is a supermassive black hole feeding off the gas and dust encircling it, and large jets of high-energy particles and other material spewing out. The jet shown at the upper left of this image extends for about 13,000 light-years away from the black hole. Also visible is a dust lane, wrapping around the middle of the galaxy, which may have resulted from a collision with a smaller galaxy millions of years ago. Cen A is found 12 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Centaurus and represents the fifth brightest galaxy in the sky.

Colors in this image have been chosen to reflect the sources of data. Blue shows x-ray light captured by NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, orange represents x-rays detected by NASA’s Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) satellite, and optical light seen by the European Southern Observatory in Chile is colored white and gray.

Cen A has been studied extensively since the launch of Chandra in 1999. With IXPE, which launched in 2021, scientists can understand the mysteries of this object in a new way. IXPE is specialized to look at a property of x-ray light called polarization, which relates to the organization of electromagnetic waves. This specialized measurement is helping scientists study how particles become accelerated to high energies and speeds—nearly the speed of light—at extreme cosmic objects like this one.

At Cen A, researchers using IXPE seek to understand what causes the x-ray emission in the jets. So far, scientists have not detected x-ray polarization at Cen A, indicating that particles much heavier than electrons, such as protons, are not producing the x-rays. More insights are to come as scientists analyze the data.

Learn more about IXPE here:

https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/ixpe/index.html

Learn more about Chandra here:

https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/chandra/main/index.html

Image Credit: X-ray: (IXPE): NASA/MSFC/IXPE/S. Ehlert et al.; (Chandra): NASA/CXC/SAO; Optical: ESO/WFI; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/J.Schmidt

Release Date: May 2, 2023

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Galaxy #CentaurusA #CenA #BlackHole #Centaurus #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #Astrophysics #ESO #SpaceTelescope #SpaceObservatories #Chandra #IXPE #Xray #NASAMarshall #MSFC #Chile #UnitedStates #Italy #Italia #ASI #STEM #Education

NASA: Avanzan las renovaciones del suministro de energía de la estación espacial

NASA: Avanzan las renovaciones del suministro de energía de la estación espacial

Recientemente en la NASA, la versión en español de las cápsulas This Week at NASA, te informa semanalmente de lo que está sucediendo en la NASA. 

Credit: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Duration: 2 minutes

Broadcast Date:  April 28, 2023

Release Date: May 2, 2023

#NASA #Space #Earth #Science #nasaenespañol #español #ISS #Astronauts #StephenBowen #SultanAlneyadi #UAE #UAESA #MBRSC #EVA #Spacewalk #HumanSpaceflight #Technology #Korea #한국 #Russia #Россия #Роскосмос #Microgravity #SpaceResearch #SpaceLaboratory #UnitedStates #Expedition69 #STEM #Education #HD #Video

A South Polar Wonderland | NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

A South Polar Wonderland | NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

A wide variety of south polar terrains are on display in this spectacular color image taken by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) spacecraft’s High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) instrument. The reddish material is the South Polar layered deposits. These deposits are a stack of layered, dusty water ice. Scientists believe that these layers record previous climatic conditions on Mars, much like terrestrial ice-sheets provide a record of climate change on the Earth.

Image cutout is less than 1 km (under a mile) top to bottom across and the spacecraft altitude was 248 km (154 mi). 

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) is a spacecraft designed to study the geology and climate of Mars, to provide reconnaissance of future landing sites, and to relay data from surface missions back to Earth. It was launched on August 12, 2005, and reached Mars on March 10, 2006. 

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif., manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, Washington. The HiRISE camera was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corporation and is operated by the University of Arizona.

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Arizona

Release Date: May 3, 2023

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Mars #Planet #RedPlanet #SouthPole #WaterIce #IceSheets #Geology #Landscape #Terrain #MRO #HiRISE #Spacecraft #JPL #Caltech #UArizona #UniversityOfArizona #BallAerospace #UnitedStates #SolarSystem #SpaceExploration #STEM #Education

Extraordinarily Bright Interacting Galaxies: AM 1214-255 | Hubble

Extraordinarily Bright Interacting Galaxies: AM 1214-255 | Hubble

This new image from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope shows interacting galaxies known as AM 1214-255. These galaxies contain active galactic nuclei, or AGNs. An AGN is an extraordinarily luminous central region of a galaxy. Its extreme brightness is caused by matter whirling into a supermassive black hole at the galaxy’s heart.

Image Description: Two blue-white, comma-shaped galaxies: at upper-right and lower-left of center. Streams of diffuse gas stretch between them. Areas of reddish-brown dust dot galaxy at left, less so on galaxy at right. Black background dotted with stars, distant galaxies.

Hubble observed the galaxy closest to the center as part of an AGN survey, with the aim of compiling a dataset about nearby AGNs to be used as a resource for astronomers investigating AGN physics, black holes, host galaxy structure, and more.

Image Credit: NASA, ESA, A. Barth (University of California - Irvine), and J. Dalcanton (University of Washington); Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America)

Release Date: May 3, 2023

#NASA #Hubble #Astronomy #Space #Science #Galaxies #InteractingGalaxies #ActiveGalacticNuclei #AGN #Cosmos #Universe #HST #SpaceTelescope #ESA #Europe #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Star Devouring Planet: Possible Preview of Earth's Fate | NOIRLab

Star Devouring Planet: Possible Preview of Earth's Fate | NOIRLab

Astronomers using the Gemini South telescope in Chile, operated by the National Science Foundation’s NOIRLab, have observed the first compelling evidence of a dying Sun-like star engulfing an exoplanet. The “smoking gun” of this event was seen in a long and low-energy outburst from the star—the telltale signature of a planet skimming along a star’s surface. This never-before-seen process may herald the ultimate fate of Earth when our own Sun nears the end of its life in about five billion years.

For most of its life, a Sun-like star fuses hydrogen into helium in its hot, dense core, which allows the star to push back against the crushing weight of its outer layers. When hydrogen in the core runs out, the star begins fusing helium into carbon, and hydrogen fusion migrates to the star’s outer layers, causing them to expand, and changing the Sun-like star into a red giant.

Such a transformation, however, is bad news for any inner-system planets. When the star's surface eventually expands to engulf one of its planets, their interaction would trigger a spectacular outburst of energy and material. This process would also put the brakes on the planet's orbital velocity, causing it to plunge into the star.

Credit: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/M. Garlick, ESA/Hubble (M. Kornmesser & L. L. Christensen), M.Paredes, Kwon O Chul, N. Bartmann

Duration: 1 minute

Release Date: May 1, 2023

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #Exoplanet #Star #RedGiant #Sun #Earth #Analog  #Astrophysics #Cosmos #Universe #NOIRLab #AURA #NSF #GeminiSouthTelescope #Chile #SouthAmerica #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

European & Australian Astronaut Candidates in Training | ESA

European & Australian Astronaut Candidates in Training | ESA

The five European candidates are Sophie Adenot, Pablo Álvarez Fernández, Rosemary Coogan, Raphaël Liégeois, and Marco Sieber. They are joined by Australian Space Agency astronaut candidate Katherine Bennell-Pegg (far-right).

European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut candidates of the class of 2022 are undergoing training at the European Astronaut Center in Cologne, Germany. The five candidates are Sophie Adenot, Pablo Álvarez Fernández, Rosemary Coogan, Raphaël Liégeois, and Marco Sieber. The astronaut candidates are joined by Australian Space Agency astronaut candidate Katherine Bennell-Pegg. 

The group is part of the 17-member astronaut class of 2022, selected from 22,500 applicants from across ESA Member States. 

These astronaut candidates will be trained to the highest level for future space missions. Basic training includes learning about space exploration, technical and scientific disciplines, space systems and operations, as well as spacewalks and survival training.

ESA astronaut candidate Rosemary Coogan (UK) Biography

https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Astronauts/Rosemary_Coogan

ESA astronaut candidate Sophie Adenot (France) Biography

https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Astronauts/Sophie_Adenot

ESA astronaut candidate Pablo Álvarez Fernández (Spain) Biography

https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Astronauts/Pablo_Alvarez_Fernandez

ESA astronaut candidate Marco Sieber (Switzerland) Biography

https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Astronauts/Marco_Alain_Sieber

ESA astronaut candidate Raphaël Liégeois (Belgium) Biography

https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Astronauts/Raphael_Liegeois

Learn about Australian Space Agency astronaut candidate Katherine Bennell-Pegg:

https://www.industry.gov.au/news/history-made-australian-woman-katherine-bennell-pegg-be-trained-astronaut-european-space-agency

Image Credit: ESA - P. Sebirot

Release Date: May 3, 2023

#NASA #ESA #Space #Science #Earth #Europe #Astronauts #AstronautCandidates #AstronautTraining #ISS #Moon #ArtemisProgram #HumanSpaceflight #SpaceExploration #France #UK #Spain #Switzerland #Suisse #España #Belgium #Belgique #België #EAC #Cologne #Germany #Deutschland #Australia #AustralianSpaceAgency #STEM #Education

Observing Ashes of the First Stars | European Southern Observatory

Observing Ashes of the First Stars | European Southern Observatory

ESOcast 261 Light: Using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), astronomers have found the fingerprints left by the explosions of the first stars.

Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)

Directed by: Angelos Tsaousis and Martin Wallner.

Editing: Angelos Tsaousis

Web and technical support: Gurvan Bazin and Raquel Yumi Shida

Written by: Claudia Sciarma and Jonas Enander

Footage and photos: ESO/L. Calçada, M. Kornmesser, ESA/Hubble, B. Tafreshi

Scientific consultant: Paola Amico, Mariya Lyubenova

Duration: 1 minute, 18 seconds

Release Date: May 2, 2023

#NASA #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #FirstStars #Nebulae #Heliophysics #Cosmology #Cosmos #Universe #Telescope #VLT #ParanalObservatory #Chile #SouthAmerica #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

New Planet Mars Images 2023 | NASA's Curiosity & Perseverance Rovers | JPL

New Planet Mars Images 2023 | NASA's Curiosity & Perseverance Rovers | JPL

Mars2020 - sol 777

Mars2020 - sol 776

Mars2020 - sol 776

Mars2020 - sol 777

MSL - sol 3814

MSL - sol 3812

MSL - sol 3810

MSL - sol 3810

Support FriendsofNASA.org

Celebrating 10 Years+ on Mars! (2012-2023)

Mission Name: Mars Science Laboratory (MSL)

Rover Name: Curiosity

Main Job: To determine if Mars was ever habitable to microbial life. 

Launch: Nov. 6, 2011

Landing Date: Aug. 5, 2012, Gale Crater, Mars

Celebrating 2+ Years on Mars (2021-2023)

Mission Name: Mars 2020

Rover Name: Perseverance

Main Job: Seek signs of ancient life and collect samples of rock and regolith (broken rock and soil) for possible return to Earth.

Mars Helicopter (Ingenuity)

Launch: July 30, 2020    

Landing: Feb. 18, 2021, Jezero Crater, Mars

For more information on NASA's Mars missions, visit: mars.nasa.gov

Image Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS

Processing: Kevin M. Gill

Image Release Dates: April 27-30, 2023

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Mars #RedPlanet #Planet #Astrobiology #Geology #CuriosityRover #MSL #MountSharp #GaleCrater #PerseveranceRover #Mars2020 #Ingenuity #JezeroCrater #Robotics #Technology #Engineering #JPL #UnitedStates #MoonToMars #CitizenScience #KevinGill #STEM #Education

Sizing Up the Biggest Black Holes | NASA Goddard

Sizing Up the Biggest Black Holes | NASA Goddard

This new NASA animation highlights the “super” in supermassive black holes. These monsters lurk in the centers of most big galaxies, including our own Milky Way, and contain between 100,000 and tens of billions of times more mass than our Sun.

Any light crossing the event horizon—the black hole’s point of no return—becomes trapped forever, and any light passing close to it is redirected by the black hole’s intense gravity. Together, these effects produce a “shadow” about twice the size of the black hole’s actual event horizon.

The animation shows 10 supersized black holes that occupy center stage in their host galaxies, including the Milky Way and M87, scaled by the sizes of their shadows. Starting near the Sun, the camera steadily pulls back to compare ever-larger black holes to different structures in our solar system. 

First up is 1601+3113, a dwarf galaxy hosting a black hole packed with the mass of 100,000 Suns. The matter is so compressed that even the black hole’s shadow is smaller than our Sun. 

The black hole at the heart of our own galaxy, called Sagittarius A* (pronounced ay-star), boasts the weight of 4.3 million Suns based on long-term tracking of stars in orbit around it. Its shadow diameter spans about half that of Mercury’s orbit in our solar system.

The animation shows two monster black holes in the galaxy known as NGC 7727. Located about 1,600 light-years apart, one weighs 6 million solar masses and the other more than 150 million Suns. Astronomers say the pair will merge within the next 250 million years. 

At the animation’s larger scale lies M87’s black hole, now with a updated mass of 5.4 billion Suns. Its shadow is so big that even a beam of light—traveling at 670 million mph (1 billion kph)—would take about two and a half days to cross it.

The video ends with TON 618, one of a handful of extremely distant and massive black holes for which astronomers have direct measurements. This behemoth contains more than 60 billion solar masses, and it boasts a shadow so large that a beam of light would take weeks to traverse it.

Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Conceptual Image Lab

Lead Producer: Scott Wiessinger (KBRwyle)

Lead Animator: Krystofer Kim (KBRwyle)

Lead Science writer: Francis Reddy (University of Maryland College Park) 

Visualizer: Jeremy Schnittman (NASA/GSFC)

Producer: Sophia Roberts (AIMM)

Scientist: Jeremy Schnittman (NASA/GSFC)

Duration: 1 minute, 43 seconds

Release Date: May 1, 2023

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #Galaxies #BlackHoles #BlackHole #Galaxies #MilkyWayGalaxy #SagittariusA #Supercomputers #Simulations #Astrophysics #Cosmos #Universe #NASAGoddard #GSFC #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #Animation #HD #Video

Pan over Galaxy Cluster ACO S520 in Pictor | Hubble

Pan over Galaxy Cluster ACO S520 in Pictor | Hubble

A menagerie of interesting astronomical finds fill this image from the NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope. As well as several large elliptical galaxies, a ring-shaped galaxy is lurking on the right of this image. A pair of bright stars are also visible at the left of this image, notable for their colorful criss-crossing diffraction spikes. This collection of astronomical curiosities is the galaxy cluster ACO S520 in the constellation Pictor, which was captured by Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys.

Credit: European Space Agency/Hubble & NASA, H. Ebeling

Duration: 30 seconds

Release Date: May 2, 2023

#NASA #Hubble #Astronomy #Space #Science #Galaxies #GalaxyCluster #ACOS520 #Constellation #Pictor #Cosmos #Universe #HST #SpaceTelescope #ESA #Europe #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Bowen & Alneyadi on Spacewalk | International Space Station

Bowen & Alneyadi on Spacewalk | International Space Station

NASA Astronaut Bowen during his eighth career spacewalk

Spacewalkers Bowen & Alneyadi

Spacewalker Alneyadi on his first career spacewalk

Astronaut Alneyadi begins his first career spacewalk

NASA astronaut Steve Bowen and United Arab Emirates astronaut Sultan Alneyadi concluded their spacewalk at 4:12 p.m. EDT after 7 hours and 1 minute on Friday, April 28, 2023. This was the first spacewalk for a United Arab Emirates astronaut. Bowen and Alneyadi laid cables and installed insulation on mounting brackets on the starboard truss of the station for the installation of the next pair of International Space Station Roll Out Solar Arrays (iROSAs). The astronauts were unable to free up an electronics box located on the truss associated with a degraded S-band communications antenna. The antenna removal was deferred to a future spacewalk ahead of its planned return to Earth.

The installation is part of a series of spacewalks to augment the International Space Station’s power channels with new International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Arrays (iROSAs). Four iROSAs have been installed so far, and two more will be mounted to the platforms installed during this spacewalk in the future.

It was the 261st spacewalk in support of space station assembly, upgrades, and maintenance, the eighth spacewalk for Bowen, and the first for any UAE astronaut.

Bowen and Alneyadi are in the midst of a planned six-month science mission living and working aboard the microgravity laboratory to advance scientific knowledge and demonstrate new technologies for future human and robotic exploration missions, including lunar missions through NASA’s Artemis program.

Follow Expedition 69 updates here:

https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/

Expedition 69 Crew (April 2023)

Station Commander: Sergey Prokopyev of Roscosmos (Russia)

Roscosmos (Russia): Flight Engineers Dmitri Petelin & Andrey Fedyaev

Flight Engineer Sultan Alneyadi of the United Arab Emirates (UAE)

NASA: Flight Engineers Frank Rubio, Stephen Bowen, Warren Hoburg

An international partnership of space agencies provides and operates the elements of the International Space Station (ISS). The principals are the space agencies of the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada. The ISS has been the most politically complex space exploration program ever undertaken.

Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center

Release Date: April 28, 2023

#NASA #Space #Earth #Science #Astronauts #StephenBowen #SultanAlneyadi #UAE #UAESA #MBRSC #EVA #Spacewalk #HumanSpaceflight #Technology #Russia #Россия #Роскосмос #Microgravity #SpaceResearch #SpaceLaboratory #UNOOSA #UnitedStates #InternationalCooperation #Expedition69 #STEM #Education

Introducing Europa Clipper | NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Introducing Europa Clipper | NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Join team members from NASA’s Europa Clipper mission behind the scenes in a clean room at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to learn about the design of this spacecraft that will visit Europa, an icy moon of Jupiter. Europa Clipper Project Manager Jordan Evans and Deputy Science Manager Trina Ray explain how scientists’ questions translate into hardware, and they provide an update on the build in JPL’s clean room, pointing out hardware that will connect the spacecraft to the rocket, the main communication antenna, and cameras.

Europa Clipper will explore this icy moon of Jupiter to see if there are conditions suitable for life. The spacecraft needs to be hardy enough to survive a 1.6-billion-mile, six-year journey to Jupiter and sophisticated enough to perform a detailed science investigation of Europa once it arrives at the Jupiter system in 2030.

Europa Clipper is expected to launch in October 2024 from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. 

While Europa Clipper is not a life-detection mission, it will conduct detailed reconnaissance of Europa and investigate whether the icy moon, with its subsurface ocean, has the capability to support life. Understanding Europa’s habitability will help scientists better understand how life developed on Earth and the potential for finding life beyond our planet.

More information about Europa can be found here: europa.nasa.gov

Download Europa Clipper Ocean World poster: go.nasa.gov/3Gsjzt5

Viewers also can watch a 24-hour live feed of the spacecraft in the clean room here:   

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yk0X3Sh2gIE&t=0s

For more information on the mission go to: https://europa.nasa.gov/

Credit: NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)

Duration: 3 minutes, 46 seconds

Release Date: May 2, 2023

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Jupiter #Europa #Moon #Ocean #Astrobiology #Biosignatures #Habitability #Radiation #EuropaClipper #Spacecraft #SolarSystem #SpaceExploration #APL #MSFC #JPL #Caltech #UnitedStates #STEM #Education#HD #Video

What's Up for May 2023? | Skywatching Tips from NASA

What's Up for May 2023? | Skywatching Tips from NASA

What are some skywatching highlights in May 2023?

Venus reaches its highest point in the evening sky for the year, while Jupiter disappears behind the Moon for some U.S. observers. Plus, some key differences in the Southern Hemisphere's skies compared to those of the North.

0:00 Intro

0:12 Moon & planet pairings

1:16 Venus at its highest

1:38 Skies of the Southern Hemisphere

3:48 May Moon phases

Skywatching resources from NASA: https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/skywatching

NASA's Night Sky Network: https://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/

Credit: NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)

Duration: 4 minutes

Release Date: May 1, 2023

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Skywatching #Earth #Moon #Planets #Venus #SolarSystem #Comets #Stars #Constellations #MilkyWayGalaxy #JPL #California #Skywatching #UnitedStates #Canada #Mexico #NorthernHemisphere #SouthernHemisphere #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Carina Nebula North | NASA's Astronomy Picture of The Day

Carina Nebula North | NASA's Astronomy Picture of The Day

"The Great Carina Nebula is home to strange stars and iconic nebulas. Named for its home constellation, the huge star-forming region is larger and brighter than the Great Orion Nebula but less well known because it is so far south—and because so much of humanity lives so far north. The featured image shows in great detail the northernmost part of the Carina Nebula. On the bottom left is the Gabriela Mistral Nebula consisting of an emission nebula of glowing gas (IC 2599) surrounding the small open cluster of stars (NGC 3324). Above the image center is the larger star cluster NGC 3293, while to its right is the emission nebula Loden 153. The most famous occupant of the Carina Nebula, however, is not shown. Off the image to the lower right is the bright, erratic, and doomed star known as Eta Carinae—a star once one of the brightest stars in the sky and now predicted to explode in a supernova sometime in the next few million years."

Astronomy Picture of the Day (APoD): https://apod.nasa.gov

Image Credit & Copyright: Carlos Taylor

Carlos Taylor's Website: https://www.capturingancientphotons.com

Release Date: May 1, 2023

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Nebula #CarinaNebula #NGC3372 #Nebulas #Nebulae #IC2599 #StarClusters #NGC3324 #NGC3293 #Loden153 #Star #EtaCarinae #Carina #Constellation #Astronomer #Astrophotography #Astrophotographer #CarlosTaylor #Cosmos #Universe #STEM #Education #APoD

Ghostly Galactic Jellyfish Galaxy JO175 | Hubble

Ghostly Galactic Jellyfish Galaxy JO175 | Hubble

The jellyfish galaxy JO175 appears to hang suspended in this image from the NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope. This galaxy lies over 650 million light-years from Earth in the appropriately-named constellation Telescopium, and was captured in crystal-clear detail by Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3. A handful of more distant galaxies are lurking throughout the scene, and a bright four-pointed star lies to the lower right side.

Jellyfish galaxies get their unusual name from the tendrils of star-forming gas and dust that trail behind them, just like the tentacles of a jellyfish. These bright tendrils contain clumps of star formation and give jellyfish galaxies a particularly striking appearance. Unlike their ocean-dwelling namesakes, jellyfish galaxies make their homes in galaxy clusters, and the pressure of the tenuous superheated plasma that permeates these galaxy clusters is what draws out the jellyfish galaxies’ distinctive tendrils.

Image Description: A spiral galaxy. Its spiral arms are studded with many pink spots, especially around the top of the galaxy. One arm is sticking out below the galaxy. From it and around the bottom of the galaxy, faint gas streams away, while little gas is visible above the galaxy. The galaxy is quite small in the centre of a dark background, where a few smaller galaxies of various shapes and sizes hang.

Hubble recently completed a deep dive into jellyfish clusters, specifically the star-forming clumps of gas and dust that stud their tendrils. By studying the origins and fate of the stars in these clumps, astronomers hoped to better understand the processes underpinning star formation elsewhere in the Universe. Interestingly, their research suggests that star formation in the discs of galaxies is similar to star formation in the extreme conditions found in the tendrils of jellyfish galaxies.

Credit: European Space Agency (ESA)/Hubble & NASA, M. Gullieuszik and the GASP team

Release Date: May 1, 2023

#NASA #Hubble #Astronomy #Space #Science #Galaxy #JellyfishGalaxy #JO175 #Spiral #Telescopium #Indus #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #HST #SpaceTelescope #ESA #Europe #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Gum 10 Nebula: A Scarlet Cosmic Sea | European Southern Observatory

Gum 10 Nebula: A Scarlet Cosmic Sea | European Southern Observatory

In this colorful picture, we see a portion of the Gum 10 nebula through the eyes of the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope in Chile. Gum 10 was discovered by the Australian astronomer Colin Stanley Gum, who in 1955 published a catalogue with more than 80 similar diffuse nebulae.

The energetic ultraviolet radiation from the hot blue stars in Gum 10 ionize the gas in the nebula, stripping electrons away from their atoms. When these electrons combine again with the atoms, they emit light at very specific colors or wavelengths. The red shade in this image comes from hydrogen, the most abundant element in the Universe. The dark areas are dense clouds of dust that partially block our view of the objects behind them.

This image, taken with the FORS2 instrument, was created as part of the ESO Cosmic Gems program, an outreach initiative to produce images of interesting, intriguing or visually attractive objects using ESO telescopes, for the purposes of education and public outreach. The program makes use of telescope time that cannot be used for science observations. All data collected may also be suitable for scientific purposes, and are made available to astronomers through ESO’s science archive.

Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)

Release Date: May 1, 2023

#NASA #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #Nebula #Gum15 #EmissionNebula #Puppis #Constellation #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #Telescope #VLT #FORS2 #ParanalObservatory #Chile #SouthAmerica #Europe #STEM #Education